Weft replenishing mechanism for looms



WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Awevt, edeund A ttor ne);

Sept. 6, 1938. A@ CEDERLUND 2,128,915

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed March 17, 1957 3Sheets-Sheet 2 IME' lrwentov` Awert, edexmnd btovney Sept. 6, 1938. A.CEDERLUND 2,128,915

WEFT REPLENISHNG MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed March 17, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheetf5 lventor Mbe edevmnd,

Akorney Patented Sept. 6, 1938 UNITE STATES ears-nr WEET REPLENISHINGMECHANHSMI FR LMS Albert Cederlund, Wer

cester, Mass., assigner to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, llsilorcester,

This invention rrelates to weft replenishing mechanisms for looms and itis the general obiject of the invention to provide improvements in meansfor setting the transfer mechanism.

In mechanisms of the type to which my invention more particularlyrelates there is employed a magazine holding reserve bobbins and atransfer mechanism including a transferrer arm carrying a latch which ismoved by a bunter l0 on the lay when a transfer is to occur. The latchis ordinarily held in transferring position by mechanism. which is resetat the end of the transferring str-oke of the lay, that is, at frontcenter as set forth hereinafter. It is an important object of my presentinvention to provide mechanism for setting the latch and thereafterbreaking the connection so thatv the latch controller can be resetindependently of the setting mechanism. As shown in the drawings thebreaking of the connections is effected by a movement of one of theparts of the connection as said part reaches the end of its settingmotion.

It occasionally happens that a shuttle to be replenished is notcompletely boxed, in which case the transfer is revoked by a shuttlefeeler while the lay is still a considerable distance from front center.It is another object of my present invention to provide connections forsetting the latch and shuttle feeler so constructed that the connectionswill be interrupted after the latch and Shuttle feeler are fully set fortransfer and before the time for revocation arrives in the forward beatof the lay. This result may conveniently be accomplished by causingcooperation between a part included in the connections and some otherpart of the loom. operative to break the connections as said part of thelatter reaches the end of its setting stroke.

In the form of loom to which my invention 4,0 more particularly relatesthere is employed a rocking magazine which shifts its position dependingupon which weaving shuttle is active. It is desirable that the magazineretain a selected position throughout a transferring operation and thisis accomplished by a positioning lever or similar part which remains inits magazine setting position for an appreciable time after the layleaves front center' to prevent breakage between the transferrer arm andthe magazine. I v make use of a connection from the magazine positioninglever to set the transfer latch by means of an actuator or the likewhich is connected to the lever. The actuator is therefore required toremain in transfer position for a period starting some time before andcontinuing to a point after of Massachusetts 1937, Serial No. 131,430

the front center position of the lay. It is a furt ther object of myprevent invention to cause the actuator to move out of forcetransmitting relation with respect to the latch and shuttle feeler aftersetting the latter so that said actuator and its lever may be maintainedin transfer position to hold the magazine correctly while at the sametime permitting either a revocation of the transfer or resetting of thetransferrer latch.

With these and other objects in view which will be apparent asthedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the combination andvarrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of myinvention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is an end yelevation of a loom having my invention appliedthereto, certain parts being in section,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end View of the magazine taken from the center ofthe loom, the lay being shown in section and the magazine set fortransfer,

Figs. 3, Ll, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views showing certain parts of theinvention in different positions.

Referring to Fig. l, the loom frame l0 has a top crank shaft il and abottom shaft l2 turning at half the speed of the top shaft. Connectorsit drive the lay L from the top shaft, the lay turning about the usualrocker shaft i4 and having a shuttle box B to receive a shuttle S. Abunter it on the lay is adapted for engagement with a transferrer latchit normally down as shown in Fig. l. The latch is pivoted as at il to atransferrer arm it movable about a stud i9 and having a hammer 2t toIengage a reserve bobbin in transfer position. Except for slightmodification the matter thus far described may be of `the usualconstruction found in weft replenishing looms.

An electrical weft detector D controls a solenoid 25 mounted on anormally stationary lever 2S pivoted to a fixed stud 2l. A selectormechanism designated generally at 28 is mounted on lever 25 and ispositioned by a rod 29 connected to a rocking lever 3Q. The latter movesabout a stud 3l mounted on a fixed stand 32 and has the lower endthereof attached to connections 33 extending to a shuttle box or patternmechanism not shown.

A cam S5 is secured to the bottom shaft and is connected to a regularlyacting lever 36 the forward or left hand end of which as viewed in Fig.l has a rising motion every second beat of the loom. A lifting dog 31 ismounted on lever 36 and acts to lift lever 26 when a transfer is tooccur.

The detector D excites the solenoid 25 through a battery P and wires 48,4I and 42. When the detector indicates weft exhaustion current will flowthrough the circuit shown in Fig. 1 to energize the solenoid, the effectof which is to set the selector mechanism so that a .transfer will occurupon a subsequent arrival of the shuttle in the box B.

The forward end of lever 26 is connected to an upright rod 45 theconnections of which will be described hereinafter, while the rear endof said lever 25 is adapted for engagement with a hook 46 extendingupwardly to a lever 41 from which extends forwardly a link 48 connectedas at 49 to a rocking magazine M. The latter rocks about a fixed axis 58carried by a bracket 5l extending from the loom arch 52 to the breastbeam 53. The magazine is provided with front and back reserve bobbinguideways 55 and 56, respectively, which direct bobbins downwardly tofront and back giveway or support mechanism 51 and 58, respectively. Themagazine can be rocked so that one or the other of the low bobbins inthe two stacks will be under the transfer hammer 28 when the magazine isset for transfer.

The mechanism shown in the lower part of Fig. l together with themagazine may be substantially the same as that shown in co-pendingapplication led by Turner Serial No. 129,245. Briefly, the magazine willbe at rest with the lowest bobbin of the rear stack under the transferhammer awaiting transfer and this condition of rest will continue duringshifting of the shuttle boxes not shown but located on opposite sides ofthe loom and cooperating with a plurality of weaving shuttles any one ofwhich may become active for any given number of picks. If the detectorindicates exhaustion in a weaving shuttle corresponding to the rearstack the rod 29 will at that time be in rear position by action ofconnections 33 and the ensuing rocking of lever 26 in a right handdirection around stud 21 will leave the magazine in its normal positionof rest because of the fact that hook 46 has been moved beyond the rangeof action of the rear end of lever 36. Should a transfer be called fromthe front stack of the magazine, however, the hook 46 will remain in theposition shown in Fig. 1 and the subsequent rocking of lever 26 willdepress hook 46 and the latter will act through the mechanism indicatedin Fig. l to rock the magazine in a left hand direction around stud 58.

The construction of the magazine is such that it is desirable to have itmaintained in its angular position either to the right or to the leftthroughout the transferring period. As is usual in weft replenishingmechanisms the transferrer latch will be engaged by the lay bunter sometime before the lay reachers front center and will remain in contactwith the bunter during backward motion of the lay until the transferrerarm has been raised to its normal elevated position. During thetransferring interval, therefore, lever 26 will be held with the forwardend thereof up, the interval extending into the rst part of the backwardmotion of the lay following transfer. Dwell 59 of the cam 35 acts tomaintain the magazine at rest and rod 45 up throughout the transferringinterval. A bobbin placing guide 185 assists in holding a bobbin intransfer position and would interfere with the transferrer arm duringthe transferring interval if the magazine should rock at that time. Thedwell 59 is long enough to hold the magazine against rocking motionduring the transferring interval.

My invention relates more particularly to the mechanism for setting thetransfer latch and shuttle feeler to be described, and also forpermitting revocation of the transfer and resetting of the latch andshuttle feeler. In carrying my invention into effect, I provide theupper end of rod 45 with a head or actuator 66 the top of which isformed with a hook 6I and a lifting shoulder 62. The hook is spaced fromthe shoulder to dene an opening 63, while the lower end of the actuatoris formed with a cam surface 65 and a dwell surface 66 which in theraised position of the actuator is substantially concentric with studI9. The transferrer arm has extending laterally therefrom a pin 61 forengagement with the cam and dwell surfaces. A small return lever 68 ispivoted as at 69 to the transferrer arm and is urged forwardly by alight tension spring 10 interposed between the transfer arm and saidlever 68. The latter has a stud 1| for engagement with the rearsubstantially straight surface 12 of the actuator.

The shoulder 62 is normally positioned to have lifting engagement with apin 15 carried by a lever 16 secured to a stub shaft 11 rockable inbracket 5l. The forward end of lever 16 has a pin 18 received by a slot19 in a rod head 80 on the upper end of rod 8| pivoted as at 82 to thelatch holder 83. The lever 16 is xed to stub shaft 11 by a set screw 84,and the inner end of the shaft 11 carries a bell crank lever 85 securedthereto by set screw 13, see Fig. 2, having a depending arm 14 connectedto a rearwardly extending rod 86 connected as at 81 to a shuttle feeler88 pivoting about a Xed stud 89. Lever 85 has a rearwardly extending arm9D having pivoted thereto as at 9| a spring rod 92 cooperating with acompression spring 93 and tending to hold the arm 90 either against anupper stop screw 94 or a lower similar stop screw 95. These stop screwslimit the lever 85 and correspondingly the lever 16, the spring 93serving as a yielding lock to hold these levers in either of theirextreme positions.

In operation, after an indication of weft exhaustion has been given asalready described,

lever 26 will rock in a right hand direction as viewed in Fig. 1, androd 45 together with its actuator 68 will be raised, the actuatorstarting from the full line position shown in Fig. 3 and moving upwardlyuntil the shoulder 62 engages the pin 15, after which continued risingof the actuator will rock lever 16 in a left hand direction as viewed inFig. 3 and cause a corresponding rocking of lever 85. During the upwardmotion of the actuator the time will come when the spring 93 will assumecontrol of lever 85 and rock the same in a right hand direction asviewed in Fig. 2 to move the shuttle feeler 88 rearwardly to theposition shown in that figure.

Continued upward motion of the actuator 60 will bring the cam surface 65into engagement with pin 61 on the transferrer arm, the latter being inits normal raised position at the time and as said surface engages thepin the actuator will be moved rearwardly or to the right from theposition of Fig. 4 to that of Fig. 5, the pin 61 being at the lowerforward end of surface 65. The opening 63 between the hook and thelifting shoulder of the head is so placed as to permit this rearwardmovement of the head, the pin 15 passing through the opening as theparts move to the position shown in Fig. 5.

During the rocking of shaft 'l1 the rod 8| is depressed so that thelatch I6 is raised from its normally down position as shown in fulllines in Fig. 3 to the raised dotted position in Fig. 4, in which latterposition the latch is maintained in the path of bunter l5 by action ofthe spring 93, as will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2. It isto be` remembered that under these conditions the shuttle feeler is inthe rear detecting position shown in Fig. 2.

The latch is now set for a transferring operation` and one of twoconditions can follow', either a normal transfer can take place, or theempty shuttle will fail to be properly boxed and will act on the shuttlefeeler to revoke transfer. Should a normal transfer ensue the lay bunterwill engage and move the latchv forwardly to lower the transferrer arminthe usual manner, the parts moving to the position shown in Fig. 6 andthe insertion of the incoming bobbin being completed when the layreaches front center. During the latter part of the forward motion ofthe lay, the lower end of the shuttle feeler will engage the box backIll and be rocked forwardly, or to the right as viewed in Fig. 2, tomove lever 85 in a counter-clockwise direction, thereby rocking shaft'il and causing the lever 85 ultimately to be positioned by stop screw95. During this rocking of shaft 11 the lever 'l5 will be moved in aright hand direction back to its normal position or to the position ofFig. 6. This leaves pin 'l5 a considerable distance below the liftingshoulder 62, and slot 'i9 accomnodates the motion of stud '58, the latchbeing still raised, As already described rod 45 will be maintained inraised position during transfer and will therefore be in the highposition shown in Fig. 6 when lever lt returns to its normal position.

During the following rearward movement of the lay immediately subsequentto transfer, the latch will follow the lay during the remainder of thetransferring interval and after the bunter has moved away from thelatch, freeing the latter so it can fall to normal position, the cam canact to lower the forward end of lever 2B, the transferrer arm being nowup, as is usual in such motions, where it cannot interfere with themagazine should the latter rock. The resultant down- Ward motion ofactuator 60 will move the cam surface 65 along the underside of pin 61,permitting the actuator to have a downward and forward motion to causepin l5 to enter the space S3, thereby returning the actuator to aposition where it can engage pin 'l5 when rising again. Spring assistsin this placing of the actuator through action of the lever 68.

Should the shuttlev fail to be boxed, after a transfer is called, thefront wall lill of the shuttle S will engage the shuttle feeler when theparts are in the full line position in Fig. 5 and will move the feelerforwardly a little earlier than normal, rocking lever 'l5 to the dottedposition of Fig. 5. Under these conditions transfer is prevented and thetransferrer arm therefore remains raised with the pin 6l holding theactuator 6G rearwardly to permit free motion of the pin l5 withoutinterference on the part of the lifting shoulder 62. rIhe parts willremain in this position until the time arrives for the actuator todescend, whereupon` the normal conditions will be reestablished asalready described.

The magazine set forth hereinbefore is not a part of my invention but isset forth and claimed in the aforesaid application of Turner, myinvention being directed tothe parts associated with the interruption ofthe operative connections between the lever 26 and the transfer latchI6.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided means forsetting the transfer latch so rconstructed that the chain of connectionsbetween the lever 26 and the latch can be interrupted at the head 60,the latter moving temporarily out of controlling relation with respectto pin l5. As a result of this interrupted connection it is possible torevoke a transfer or reset the magazine by rocking of lever 85 while thehead is still in raised position, a condition made necessary by the factthat the magazine rocks. It will further be seen that `raising of thehead @il effects the interruption of the connections, this interruptionbeing effected upon the com pletion of the upward motion of the headindeoendently of movement of the transferrer arm. This latter conditionis made possible by the dwell 66.

Having thus -described by invention it will be seen that changes andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

l. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay provided with a bunter, amagazine movable to present any one of a plurality of reserve bobbins inposition for transfer, a transferrer arm which in normal position is outof interfering relation with respect to the magazine but which movesinto interfering relation with respect to the magazine when transferringthe reserve bobbin in transfer position, a member movable at the time oftransfer to move the magazine to place a reserve bobbin for transfer, alatch movable from normal position to transfer position in the path ofthe bunter, a shuttle feeler to assist in resetting the latch, a trainof mechanism connecting the member to the shuttle feeler and latch tomove the latter to transfer position and move said shuttle feeler toshuttle feeling position when said member moves the magazine, said trainof mechanism including two cooperating parts normally positioned totransmit a force from the member to said latch and feeler, and means tomove said parts relatively to each other out of force transmittingrelationship after the latch and feeler have been set for transfer torender said shuttle feeler capable of movement independently of saidtrain of mechanism during the time that the member is holding themagazine in position for transfer.

2. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay provided with a bunter, amagazine movable to present any one of a plurality of reserve bobbins inposition for transfer and having a part movable in a given path, atransfer arm which in normal position is out of interfering relationwith respect to the magazine but which moves along a path intersectingthe path of the magazine when transferring the reserve bobbin intransfer position, a transfer latch connected to the transferrer arm andmovable from normal position to transfer position in the path of thebunter to be engaged with the latter during portions of front and backmotions of the lay, a shuttle feeler connected to the latch and capableof assisting in resetting said latch, a member connected to the magazineand movable when a transfer is called to move the magazine to place areserve bobbin for transfer and hold said magazine in transfer positionduring the aforesaid portions of forward and backward motions of thelay, a train of mechanismconnecting the member to the latch and feelerto move said latch to transfer position and move the shuttle feeler to apositionv for engagement with the lay as the latter moves forwardly,said train including two members normally positioned for mutualengagement, and means operating before the lay reaches the end of itsforward stroke to move said parts out of engaging relationship andrender the shuttle feeler capable of movement by forward motion of thelay to assist in resetting the latch during the time that the membermaintains the magazine placed for transfer and during the time that thetransferrer arm moves across the given path of the magazine part.

3. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay provided with a bunter, amagazine movable to present any one of a plurality of reserve bobbins inposition for transfer and having a part movable in la given path, atransferrer arm which in normal nected to said transferrer arm andmovable from normal position to transfer position in the path of thebunter, a shuttle feeler connected to and controlling the latch andmovable when a transfer is called into position to be engaged and movedby the lay when the latter moves forwardly to assist in resetting thelatch to normal position, a train of mechanism connecting the member tothe latch and shuttle feeler effective when said member moves toposition the magazine for the transfer to move the latch to transferposition and move the shuttle feeler into position for engagement withthe lay when the latter moves forwardly, said train including two partsnormally in force transmitting position with respect to each 451; other,and means acting subsequently to movement of the latch to transferposition and movement of the shuttle feeler to lay engaging position tomove said parts out of force transmitting relationship to render theshuttle feeler capable of movement by the lay when the latter movesforwardly to assist in a resetting of the latch during the time that themember maintains the magazine in transferring position.

4. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay provided with a bunter, amagazine movable to present any one of a plurality of reserve bobbins inposition for transfer and having a part movable in a given path, atransferrer arm which in normal position is out of interfering relationwith respect to the magazine but which moves along a path intersectingthe path of the magazine when transferring the reserve bobbin intransfer position, a member movable when a transfer is called to movethe magazine to place a reserve bobbin :for transfer and hold themagazine in such position during parts of consecutive forward andrearward motions of the lay, a transferrer latch connected to saidtransferrer arm, a positioning element connected to the latch to movethe latter from normal position to transfer position in the path of thebunter, a shuttle feeler connected to and moving with the positioningelement and movable when a transfer is called into position to beengaged by the lay when the latter moves forwardly, an actuatorconnected to the member and effective when said member moves to positionthe magazine for the transfer to move the positioning element andthereby cause the latch to move to transfer position and the shuttlefeeler to move into position for engagement with the lay when the lattermoves forwardly, and means acting subsequently to movement of the latchto transfer position and movement of the shuttle feeler to lay engagingposition to move said actuator relatively to the positioning element andout of force transmitting relation with respect to the latter to rendersaid shuttle feeler capable by forward motion when in engagement withthe lay of assisting in a resetting of the positioning elementindependently of said member and during the time that said member isholding the magazine in transfer position.

5. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay with a bunter, a latchnormally out of the path of the bunter but movable to transfer positioninto the path of the bunter to be operated by forward motion of the lay,a normally raised transferrer arm connected to and operated by motion ofthe latch, an actuator having a movement when a transfer is called, saidactuator having a cam face, means on the transferrer arm to engage thecam and shift the actuator when the latter moves, a shuttle feeler to bemoved toward the lay and movable by the latter before completion of atransferring operation, and setting mechanism connected to the latch andshuttle feeler and movable by the actuator preparatory to transfer tomove the latch into the path of the bunter and move the shuttle feelertoward the lay, the transferrer arm being lowered as the lay advances byengagement of the latch and bunter and said means shifting the actuatorout of control of the setting mechanism, whereby the shuttle feeler ismovable by the lay while the bunter and latch are still in engagement.

6. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay provided with a bunter, alatch normally out of the path of the bunter but movable to transferposition in said path, a transferrer arm connected to and operated bysaid latch when the latter is moved by the bunter, an actuator having anoperating movement When transfer is called, a shuttle feeler normallyout of engagement with the lay but movable into a position forengagement with the lay preparatory to transfer, setting mechanismhaving an interruptable connection with the actuator, said settingmechanism connected to the latch and shuttle feeler and movable by theactuator by a force transmitted through the interruptable connection tomove the latch into the path of the bunter and move the shuttle feelerinto position for engagement with the lay, forward motion of the laycausing engagement of the bunter and the latch to operate thetransferrer arm, and means moving with the transferrer arm when thelatter operates to interrupt the connection between the settingmechanism and actuator while the latch and bunter are engaged, theshuttle feeler being thereby capable of movement by the layindependently of the actuator.

ALBERT CEDERLUND.

